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Forγὰρwhatτίwill it profitὠφεληθήσεταιa personἄνθρωποςifἐὰνhe gainsκερδήσῃthe wholeὅλονworldτὸν κόσμονbutδὲforfeitsζημιωθῇhis life?τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦOrἢwhatτίwill a personἄνθρωποςgiveδώσειin exchangeἀντάλλαγμαfor his life?τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ
Matthew 16:26
Study it in the app“For what will it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?”
Following him means denying yourself and taking up your crossFollowing Jesus
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 16:26, word by word
- will it profitὠφεληθήσεταιōphelēthēsetai
help, benefit
Help, be of use.
Where else “ōphelēthēsetai” appears- a personἄνθρωποςanthrōpos
someone
Any person, without saying who, as in the parables.
Where else “anthrōpos” appears- he gainsκερδήσῃkerdēsēi
gain
To acquire money or goods.
Where else “kerdēsēi” appears- the wholeὅλονholon
whole, all
Whole, entire, all.
Where else “holon” appears- worldκόσμονkosmon
creation
Everything God made.
Where else “kosmon” appears- forfeitsζημιωθῇzēmiōthēi
lose, suffer loss
Lose, suffer loss.
Where else “zēmiōthēi” appears- his lifeψυχὴνpsychēn
life
Literally "soul": one's being alive, which can be saved, lost or given.
Where else “psychēn” appears- giveδώσειdōsei
give
To hand something to another freely, as a gift.
Where else “dōsei” appears- in exchangeἀντάλλαγμαantallagma
exchange
Something given in exchange, the price of a trade.
Where else “antallagma” appears
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
Take up your cross
See them side by side
Matthew 16:24-28
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me will find it. 26For what will it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to his conduct. 28Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
8:34And summoning the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 8:35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me and the good news will save it. 8:36For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 8:37For what can a person give in exchange for his life? 8:38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9:1And he was saying to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”
23And he was saying to all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me, that one will save it. 25For what is a person benefited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
The context
25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me will find it.
26 · This verse (above)
27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to his conduct.
To study Matthew 16 in a group
1. What it says
Who did people say Jesus was, and what did Peter answer (vv. 13–16)?
2. What it means
What did Jesus mean by losing one's life in order to find it (vv. 24–25)?
3. How I live it
Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). How would you answer in your own words?